On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 23 



From Cairo to Abbasieh, where the canals that are still 

 open terminate, the principal and most significant levels are 

 those of the water''s surface along the canals early in Decem- 

 ber, that is, three months after the height of the inundation. 

 Above this are seen a few leading points upon the banks, to 

 shew the general elevation and form of the land itself along 

 the edge of the water-courses. The points selected are : — near 

 Boulak ; — the foot of the " Tel el Jehud" mounds of " Onion'"' 

 and " Scence^'' near Shibbeen ; — and at Abbasieh near the ves- 

 tiges of " Ethasi or Thoum," Here, the further course of 

 the water is cut off by dykes. Beyond this point the level in- 

 dicated by the dark dotted line is that of the bottom of 

 " Wady Toomilat,*" at the extremity of which, " Has el 

 Wady" is another large dyke. We next come to the Valley 

 of " Seven Wells ;"t and, following the course of the ancient 

 canal past two very remarkable ruins, that of Hiroth or 

 Hero, and that of a commercial outpost or magazine belong- 

 ing to it, about three miles distant, called " Moukfar" in 

 the great Fi'ench map, we find that the ground-line, after 

 I'ising gradually from near Hero to Moukfar, suddenly sinks 

 again, and the valley terminates in the large basin contain- 

 ing the Crocodile lakes. 



Necho's canal ran along the north bank of the Wady Too- 

 milat ; and, besides the lowest ground-line, some points on the 

 ruined dykes of this ancient canal are indicated, along the 

 whole length of the valley, by a lighter dotted line. 



As standards of comparison, I have introduced the nilo- 

 meter of Roda in its place — the levels of the two seas — and 

 also a diagram of the canal Moez near Bubastis,i in order to 

 shew the relative height and true proportions of its embank- 

 ments, its bed, and its water at various seasons. All these 

 are taken from Le Pere's " Tableau des echelles compara- 

 tives," and adapted to the scale of the section. {Vide Plate 

 xiv., Descr. dc I'Egypte, vol. i. Et Mod.) 



* This is the modern name of the part of the valloy between Abbasieh and 

 " Hero." 



t The remainder of the valley, to the Crocodile lakes inclusive. 



* The Canal 5Ioez now occupies the site of the Tanitic branch of the Nile, 

 from near Athribis to ^oan. 



